[Bilimsel Haber] CfP: Rethinking the Politics of the Past in Cyprus (21-24 November 2008, Nicosia)

[Onur Inal]

CALL FOR PAPERS

One Island, Many Histories:
Rethinking the Politics of the Past in Cyprus

A conference sponsored by Peace Research International Oslo (PRIO) Cyprus
Centre

21-24 November 2008, Nicosia, Cyprus

One of the most divisive elements of the Cyprus conflict is the writing of
Cyprus' history. That history has been dominated by the two main
communities, Greek and Turkish, who have written very different versions of
the past five hundred years in the island. Those differing narrative strands
have often come into conflict and have constituted one of the major
impediments to reconciliation. At the same time, the dominance of these
nationalist narratives has led to the exclusion of other groups, of other
histories, and of other narrative possibilities. This conference aims to
investigate how those narratives have emerged, how they are reproduced, and
what questions we might ask about the production of those narratives that
would help us reorient history writing from a form of division to a form of
dialogue.

With this aim in mind, the conference is organized around a set of
methodological and historiographical questions. Because the questions that
historians ask shape the results that they find, this conference proposes
that new questions are important for a new orientation. Through this
historiographical approach, we seek to investigate the ways in which history
is and has been written in the island, as well as what new ways of thinking
about the past may be productive for the future.
Because the initial point of diversion for the island's hegemonic histories
is 1571, the conference concentrates on the Ottoman, British, and
postcolonial periods. We seek proposals from historians and social
scientists working on the following themes:

1. Concepts of belonging: Beyond dichotomous identities? Histories of Cyprus
have often questioned the emergence or transformation of identities in the
island. "Identity," however, implies sameness and is defined by difference.
In the current context, this means that polls in both sides of the island
attempt to measure the extent to which persons living in Cyprus feel
"Turkish," "Greek," "Cypriot," or a combination of these. Such concepts of
identity, furthermore, are often written back into Cyprus' history to
explain the meanings of difference even in the period before nationalisms
became hegemonic in the island. How might we rethink the meanings of
identity and difference in a pre-nationalist period? And can the concepts of
identity currently in use in the academic literature about Cyprus really
encompass or exhaust peoples' senses of belonging to the island? What other
concepts might be employed to think, both historically and currently, about
those senses of belonging?

2. Historical traumas and collective memory
There are certain events in all communities of the island that may be
considered "historical traumas," or traumatic events that play an important
role in their collective memory as a people. These include, for instance,
the hanging of the archbishop and clergy in 1821; the massacre of Muslims in
Crete in 1897; and the Armenian Genocide of 1915. This panel asks how we
might understand the formation of such events as historical traumas; their
reproduction in collective memory; and the influence of such historical
traumas on the writing of history.

3. Other histories and "others'" histories
The hegemony of the two main nationalist narratives in the island has left
little historical space for other groups, whether linguistic, religious, or
ideological. The two primary histories have, moreover, been dominated by
masculinist narratives that emphasize relations of power and moments of
conflict. In what way might other histories contribute to a rethinking of
the politics of history, as well as the history of politics, in Cyprus?

4. Writing official histories
This panel seeks to turn a historiographical gaze specifically to the
1960-74 period, asking how the divisive official histories of that period
have been written. We seek here to investigate the conditions of those
histories' production, looking at the specific moments in which what came to
be the "official" versions of those histories emerged. What are the
particular conditions in which certain narratives appeared to reflect
Cypriot realities? How did those narratives take on institutional form? And
what forms of critique were brought at the moment of their emergence?

5. Official vs. unofficial histories
While official histories have often been studied and recognized as such,
less attention has been given to the formation of "unofficial" histories,
despite the fact that these are often histories that are as well known and
well formulated as the "official" ones. The history of the Left on both
sides of the island, for instance, falls under the heading of "unofficial"
history even as its stories are equally well known. In addition, in the
"official" vs. "unofficial" dichotomy, the "unofficial" often acquires the
meaning of a hidden "truth" that "official" histories have denied. Is this,
in fact, what "unofficial" histories represent? Might there also be other
ways of thinking about histories that oppose the main nationalist
narratives?

6. Popular histories
Popular histories are those ways of explaining the past that may interweave
with legends, myths, rumor, and other forms of folk narrative. One
particularly potent form of popular history in Cyprus has been the
conspiracy theory, but urban legends and the power of rumor have been
equally important in shaping the ways in which Cypriots perceive histories,
especially local ones. This panel asks what the role of such histories may
be in shaping popular discourse, and how such popular histories may in turn
influence the writing of academic histories in the island.

7. Social imagination in the post-74 period and its influence on history
writing Apart from popular histories, one of the factors shaping academic
history in Cyprus is what Charles Taylor has called "social imaginaries," or
"that largely unstructured and inarticulate understanding of our whole
situation, within which particular features of our world show up for us in
the sense they have." Such social imaginaries may include forms of
discourse, as well as institutions that form the landscapes of daily life.
This panel asks what social imaginaries, or concepts naturalized as a type
of social background, have shaped histories of Cyprus in the post-74 period.

8. Is there a space for subaltern studies in Cyprus?
The past twenty years has seen the emergence of subaltern studies, a branch
of historical theory that investigates the conditions of colonialism,
including both colonial consciousness and the consciousness of the
colonized. In contrast to subaltern studies' focus on the social history of
the colonial period, Cyprus' colonial history has been dominated by an elite
history that leaves little room for investigation of the emergence of
discourses, or forms of power and knowledge. What are the reasons for this
dominance of elite history? How has it affected our understanding of social
movements in the island? And is there anything that we might learn from
other colonial historians' focus on forms of consciousness that emerge in
the colonial period?

Practical information:

The conference will take place over in the buffer zone of Nicosia, Cyprus,
over two days, 21-22 November, with a third day, 24 November, set aside for
closed workshops amongst meeting participants. We are currently seeking
funding for participants' travel and accommodation and hope to be able to
cover most of participants' expenses.

In order to facilitate both workshop discussions and the later publication
of an edited volume, participants will be required to send completed papers
(approx. 7500 words) by 10 November. Within the framework of the conference
itself, participants will be expected to summarize those papers' findings
for a general audience.
Please send abstracts of no more than 150 words to:

Rebecca Bryant
Associate Professor of Anthropology
George Mason University
Rbryant2 at gmu.edu
Deadline for receipt of abstracts is 10 August 2008.
--
Rebecca Bryant
<rbryant2 at gmu.edu>